Governor Brown is in Southern California spreading the word about water conservation as our severe drought continues.

Brown gave some simple tips to save water:

"Don't flush more than you have to, don't shower longer than you need to and turn the water off when you're shaving or brushing your teeth," said Brown.

The governor was promoting water conservation at a meeting of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, in Los Angeles. He says the entire state has to be united in the effort. The district general manager says the southland is ready to help.

"This is unprecedented. We have never seen conditions like this up in Northern California. I'm going to ask the board, that we will look at all available tools to work with the rest of the state in response with this," said Metropolitan Water District General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger.

Governor Brown is also counting on help from the White House.

"In the short term, we're working to get funding from the president and we're working together on a long term set of investments that will enable California to continue growing and continue to have a high quality of life," said Brown.

When the governor declared a drought state of emergency earlier this month, he asked Californians to voluntarily use 20-percent less water, but that could change.

"Every day this drought goes on, we're going to have to tighten the screws on what people are doing," said Brown.

Southern California water officials are looking at offering consumers rebates for cutting back on water.